Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about misfits. I define misfits as people who do things their own way. People who stand out from the crowd. People who tread their own path through life.

It started with some research I was doing. I was looking at common factors behind the people who achieve great success in their chosen field.

And in 100% of the cases I studied, they were misfits. From Shakespeare, Dieter Rams and Steve Jobs, to Grandmaster Flash, Richard Feynman, Picasso and Robin Williams.

This also seems to hold true, whether the person is a musician, politician, activist, industrialist, designer, writer, actor… whatever. The only exception I could find were sports stars, where genetics played a huge part. But even then, the very top achievers in sport are often misfits; people who demonstrated a rare level of commitment, focus, grit and determination.

The creative adult

There’s a wonderful old saying that goes like this:

The creative adult, is the child who survived.

I love the idea of the child who survived: the kid who grew-up, whilst still hanging onto their child-like imagination and curiosity. Schools tend to try and make kids conform to a measurable norm. Teachers and fellow students make life tough for kids who are different. So, kids slowly learn to fit in. This robs children of their chance to be their unique-self. The misfit they were born to be.

Just as the creative adult, is the child who survived, I think the same is true of misfit adults.

Embrace your inner misfit

You were born unique. That uniqueness is still within you. Yes, it may take time, but you can reconnect with it. A great place to start is to observe the freedom with which your kids, siblings or grand-kids behave. Look at how they create, how curious they are and how much fun they have. Learn from them.

There are very few adults who retain or recapture their ability to think with the freedom of a child. But those who do are the misfits. The people who make a difference.

Here are 4 quick writing tips, which have helped me massively over the years. I hope you find them useful.

Write for the waste paper basket. I stole this one from Ernest Hemingway. If you aim for perfection, you’ll seldom write anything. So, just write. Write with freedom and see where it takes you. Some of it will be terrible, but some of it will be gold dust. Use the gold dust.

Write when you feel inspired. But make sure you feel inspired every day. Tip: You don’t wait for inspiration to appear, you go hunting for it with a club.

Write as you speak. Imagine one of your readers is sitting opposite you. Now, write as if you were talking to them. If you do, all your readers will feel as if you’re writing for them specifically.

Write without fear. Don’t waste a second worrying about what the critics or trolls will say. If you do, you will play it safe. Safe writing is dull, uninspiring and forgettable. So choose. You can either be criticised or you can be ignored.

Why is it, that some creative professionals seem to struggle more than others, when completing an important project?

When we look at the most successful creative professionals, we usually find that they are no more creative or intelligent than their less prolific counterparts.

However, they are different in one important respect: They look at their work in a very different way. They have discovered the importance of breaking large or daunting creative projects down, into manageable, achievable chunks.

Think about this for a moment.

No one writes a book.

No one composes a symphony.

No one develops a software package.

Instead, they write a little every day. They compose a little every day. They code a little every day. As a result, they don’t feel overwhelmed. They just do a little every day. And every day they move closer to completing their next creative project.

Chunk your project down. Commit to doing a little, often. When you do, you’ll never be daunted by the size or scale of a creative project again.

Here’s something to remember, the next time someone criticises your art or work.

Andy Warhol’s signature work, Campbell’s Soup Cans, hangs on the walls of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. It’s their most prized possession.

They were gifted the art by Warhol’s friend Irving Blum, paying him just $15MILLION for it — that was 10% of it’s $150MILLION valuation. It’s worth even more today!

Compare that, with the rejection letter that same museum sent Andy Warhol, when he offered one of is artworks to the museum for free. See below:

Dear Mr. Warhol,Last week our Committee on the Museum Collections held its first meeting of the fall season and had a chance to study your drawing entitled Shoe which you so generously offered as a gift to the Museum.I regret that I must report to you that the Committee decided, after careful consideration, that they ought not to accept it for our Collection.Let me explain that because of our severely limited gallery and storage space we must turn down many gifts offered, since we feel it is not fair to accept as a gift a work which may be shown only infrequently.Nevertheless, the Committee has asked me to pass on to you their thanks for your generous expression of interest in our Collection.Sincerely,Alfred H. Barr, JrDirector of the Museum CollectionsP.S. The drawing may be picked up from the Museum at your convenience.

Why such an about turn?

Andy Warhol’s art was just as amazing when The Museum of Modern Art asked him to take it away, as it was when they were prepared to pay millions for it. What changed was public perception of Warhol’s work. That shift happened because he kept creating amazing work. He carried on, regardless of the rejection and abuse. Eventually, others were able to see what Warhol knew all along.

Had Warhol allowed the rejection to stop him from creating, the world would have been robbed of one of its most influential artists.

Not only is rejection to be expected, it’s almost always what happens when people produce great art.

In other words, the rejection that so many artists fear, is an inevitable part of creating great work. When there’s no rejection and no criticism, it means your art is predictable. It means you’re colouring between the lines.

Embrace rejection and see it for what it is

Never let rejection or criticism stand between you and your art. If you believe in what you’re doing, do it. If YOU see the value of your work, keep on creating.

Never, ever allow the opinion of another, to stop you from creating your art.